From: Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc. (FCTO)
Website: http://ctact.org/
email: fctopresident@aol.com
860-524-6501
May 12, 2008
Welcome to
Tax Talk 116
Items of Interest
in Tax Talk 116
- Thursday, May 15, 2008 - LIVE RADIO
& TV DEBATE ‘08 – BALANCING THE COST OF EDUCATION WITH PROPERTY TAXES
- Thursday, May 22, 2008 – The
Federalist Society sponsors a reception with Dean Kenneth W. Starr
- Editorial by Robert Green, FCTO Board
Member: Blumenthal’s Fruitless Fight
- Editorial by Judy Aron,
FCTO Board Member. Excerpt: Studies have shown that more school
spending has no correlation to better schools or higher academic
achievement
- How To Give A
Little More Power To The People – Initiative and Referendum.
- State Ballot Question in Nov, 2008:
Shall There Be a Constitutional Convention.
- AP IMPACT: More than 3.5 million new
voters.
- Investigators: Millions in Iraq
contracts never finished.
- Domestic spying far outpaces terrorism
prosecutions.
- Another Laptop Stolen.
- The Selling of the Judiciary: Campaign
Cash in the Courtroom.
- Check to see who is donating to the
Presidential Candidates
Some
important dates to mark on
your calendar!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
LIVE RADIO & TV DEBATE
‘08 – BALANCING THE COST OF EDUCATION WITH PROPERTY TAXES
Co-sponsored by
The TALK of Connecticut and the Yankee Institute for
Public Policy
Broadcast from 3:00 to 5:00 P.M. during The Dan Lovallo Show
on The TALK of Connecticut’s
4 station network
Contact:
Mary Crean at
mary@yankeeinstitute.org or at (860) 881-5589.
************************
Thursday, May 22, 2008
The Connecticut Lawyers
chapter of the
The Federalist Society
For
Law & Public Policy Studies
invites you to attend
A
reception with Dean Kenneth W. Starr
Pepperdine University
School of Law
When: Thursday, May 22, 2008
8:30 - Sign-in and complimentary continental
breakfast
9:00-10:00 – Reception and informal remarks by
Dean Starr
Where: The Hartford
Club - 46 Prospect Street,
Hartford, CT
Directions to Hartford Club and parking
info: http://www.hartfordclub.com/club/scripts/library/view_document.asp?GRP=8805&NS=PUBLIC&APP=80&DN=DIRECTIONS_PARK
Hartford Club phone:
(860) 522-1271
RSVP: Brian
Freeman, (860) 275-8310, bfreeman@rc.com (you
can reply to this email).
******************
Congratulations to Robert Green, Vice Chairman
of the Salem Board of Education, on his
editorial which appeared today in the New
London Day. Bob
is also a Board Member of FCTO.
BLUMENTHAL’S FRUITLESS FIGHT
To the Editor of The Day:
As I predicted one year ago last January and in op-ed pieces
as far back as December 2003, Attorney General Blumenthal, once again, has
embarrassed the State of Connecticut with a frivolous lawsuit based on emotion
and not based on points of law with the dismissal of Connecticut’s “No Child
Left Behind” lawsuit in New Haven Federal Court on April 28. Failing to learn from the Michigan case based
on similar grounds, he again wasted the State’s valuable time and scarce
precious taxpayer dollars on a court case that was essentially “dead on
arrival” when it finally reached the court’s docket for action, but profited
Mr. Blumenthal with a wellspring of camera coverage for the evening news.
While pursuing this fantasy legal proceeding founded in the
emotions of insufficient funding, U.S. Department of Education Secretary
Margaret Spellings has been given free reign to appease the masses of public
education through selective adjustments of the NCLB legislation for certain
aggrieved states, all-the-while continuing to impose new mandates and ignoring
Connecticut’s continued leadership of innovative education policies. Sadly, though, because of the ropes and
anchors with which NCLB shackles our public education system, the desired
effect to improve Connecticut
schools overall appears to have been minimal.
The number of failing schools and schools needing improvement continues
to increase. According to parents I have
spoken to in the Groton/New London area, the children that NCLB was supposed to
benefit the most, have become casualties, as school districts seem to focus
more resources on the students that will keep their AYP (Annual Yearly
Progress) numbers up. According to the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, the number of
failing schools nationwide increased 44 percent during 2006, and that
number is expected to swell sharply by the
thousands over the next few years. Even more startling is the fact that
over one quarter of our nation's K through 8 schools have failed to make AYP
for at least more than one year. Other
reports conclude that public education improvements enacted at the state level
prior to NCLB are now stagnant or reverting back. Now, included in
the President’s push to renew NCLB is the expansion of its
influence into our high schools.
The Commonwealth
of Virginia legislature,
fully understanding NCLB’s caustic impact on its
public education system, recently passed opt-out legislation, and its governor
is expected to sign it. Other states are
debating the opt-out option. Our Connecticut state leaders, lawmakers and education
leaders; however, are content with the continued demise of our public education
system, as they will continue to bow in submissive obedience to Washington. The federal government will continue its
accelerated usurpation of our state’s and local municipalities’ right to govern
themselves. The children needing help
the most will continue to fall further behind, and the pie from which our
education dollars come at the state level, will continue to shrink to meet
unlawful and unconstitutionally imposed Washington directives and mandates; all
in our State leaders’ quest to secure their claim on that paltry $375 million
Federal pot of gold at the end of their fairy tale education funding
rainbow. I’m confident,
however, Mr. Blumenthal will sleep at night knowing he did his part in Connecticut’s tepid
challenge to an unconstitutional law.
Robert M. Green
Vice Chairman, Salem Board of Education
******************
Last Of State's
No-Child Suit Dismissed
By ARIELLE LEVIN BECKER | Courant Staff Writer http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-ctnochild0430.artapr30,0,7450687.story
******************
Excellent editorial written by Judy Aron,
Vice President, West Hartford Taxpayers
Association. Judy is also a Board Member
of FCTO.
Excerpt: Studies have shown that more
school spending has no
correlation to
better schools or higher academic achievement
Dear Editor, The
common belief is that if you invest in your schools that this will
automatically raise or maintain the value of your home. While it is true that
good school systems attract home buyers, the fact is that studies have shown
that more school spending has no correlation to better schools or higher
academic achievement. Higher taxes and unrestrained spending causing higher
budget demands also means that people on fixed incomes and modest economic
backgrounds (i.e. middle class) will have to move away.
Many people are already choosing to put their homes up for
sale because of higher taxes, and people are passing up on moving into West
Hartford because they can get a better deal in taxes accompanied with better
schools in towns like Avon and Farmington.
That is unfortunate for West Hartford. I feel that we can do better in making and
keeping our town affordable while increasing academic achievement.
Considering that our last revaluation was done at the height
of the housing market in 2006, many people are finding that they now cannot
sell their home for the amount of their current assessment! And basically
homeowners who choose to stay here are already overpaying on their taxes based
on this inflated unrealized capital gain.
Home prices have already begun to fall as a result of
mortgage crisis and the allied credit crunch. In the end, the real estate
bubble has burst and higher property taxes are driving out established owners
and preventing new people from moving in.
In essence, increasing property taxes are driving home prices down,
slowing sales, and stimulating an undesirable demographic shift – the flight of
the empty nesters. These folks usually
contribute the lion’s share of the tax revenue and require the least amount of
community services. Our senior center
and senior services do not cost nearly as much as what our public schools
consume. It must be understood that if we alienate and drive older folks out of
town, we have lost the major cash flow source that is the financial bed rock of
West Hartford’s tax revenue. We also lose a
vital part of the demographic fabric that makes West
Hartford so terrific. It is also not good for us to be a place
that is financially unattainable for young people just starting out. As I see
it, when older folks move away, as they are doing, more than likely families
move in with more children that put an increased strain on an already strained
school system. People should not have to "sacrifice" to live here or struggle to stay here.
Our property taxes continue to climb and home values slide
downward to compensate for increased tax liability. As home values slide, the property tax base
erodes generating less revenue available to fund education. This downward
spiral has started and will accelerate if something substantial is not done
regarding town spending. In my opinion, pushing our senior population out is
not a very good end result for “supporting school spending”. Sounds like that
children’s story – Killing the goose that laid the golden egg doesn’t it?
Judy Aron, Vice President
West Hartford Taxpayers Association
******************
SHALL THERE BE A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION
IN CONNECTICUT? In Nov, 2008, a question will appear on the ballot in Connecticut which asks – Shall There be a Constitutional Convention? Perhaps now is the
time for all Connecticut
voters, liberal and conservative activist groups, and concerned taxpayers to
start thinking about including the right to Statewide Initiative and Referendum
in our State Constitution.
******************
The following recently appeared in the Hartford Courant. John J. Woodcock III is a lawyer, an adjunct
political science professor at Central
Connecticut State
University and a former Democratic state representative.
How To Give A
Little More Power To The People
Referendums, Inititiatives, Recall
Votes Would Give Citizens More Input
By JOHN J. WOODCOCK III, May 4, 2008
http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/commentary/hc-commentarywoodcock0504.artmay04,0,3562216.story
We often read of public opinion polls giving poor ratings to
President Bush and Congress. No such poll has been taken regarding the Connecticut General Assembly and
state government, but suffice it to say they would probably not fare
well in such a poll of Connecticut
citizens.
What is affecting the citizenry's opinion of its state government? Is it
citizen apathy, poor job performance, voter fatigue, or the myriad important
issues such as escalating electric rates and public safety tragedies?
I believe that Connecticut
citizens have the will and interest to stimulate and invigorate their government
and make it more responsive to their concerns and their needs.
Just 26 years ago, Connecticut consumers
deluged the state Capitol with their support of Connecticut's first-in-the-nation Lemon Law.
In the age before the Internet, they attended public hearings, held rallies,
wrote thousands of letters and even flew an airplane over the Capitol with a
banner expressing support of the pending law.
Recently, on Feb. 4, a snowy Monday night, more than 18,000
people attended a Barack Obama rally at the XL Center in Hartford. It was a last-minute, short-notice
rally and those in attendance, including me, were struck by the cross-section
of Connecticut
citizens. People of all ages, ethnic backgrounds and political persuasions
participated in a most demonstrative and energetic way.
Today more than ever, Connecticut's
government desperately needs an injection of citizen input. Our legislature has
become an isolated "Incumbent Nation." The past dozen legislative
election results illustrate this clearly.
If Connecticut's
leaders want to change the political environment of non-inclusiveness, they
should offer and support citizen empowerment laws that promote democracy and
citizen participation. These laws have been around for a long time and have
been legislated by many states across the country.
Former longtime state Sen. George "Doc" Gunther
repeatedly and unsuccessfully introduced a referendum and initiative bill
during his long career. A referendum — when a vote by the legislature puts a
public policy question before voters — would provide a clear picture of public
opinion. In Connecticut,
legislators and special interest lobbyists have historically belittled and
opposed this legislation.
A direct initiative law allows citizens to place a public policy issue on the
ballot with no legislative approval needed. At least 26 states have these
referendum laws available to their citizens, and more than 25 states provide
for initiatives from their citizens.
Another citizen proposal that has grown popular is the imposition of term
limits. At least 15 states have, through voter initiatives, enacted term limits
for their legislators. They include California, Maine, Florida and Michigan, among others. Support for term limits
has grown into a national movement fueled by public sentiment that legislators,
over time, grow insulated from their constituencies as they become more
beholden to special interests. There is little support for term limits in the Connecticut legislature.
Finally, Connecticut
law should provide for the recall of public officials. Recall is a process
requiring petition signatures from the public calling for a vote, which, if
successful, will remove a public official from office before the end of his
term.
Eighteen states permit recall of state officials. California voters recalled Gov. Grey Davis
in 2003. Recall election powers exist in over 68 percent of U.S. cities. It
is a valuable tool to express public opinion, and secondly, provide for more
accountability over our elected officials.
Collectively, these reform proposals, tried and proved in other states, offer Connecticut citizens much-needed
citizen rights. To become law, these reforms would have to be initiated and
approved by the legislature, which has historically given them a very cold
shoulder.
Perhaps the time is now, in this historic presidential election year, that we seek out and elect legislators who will
advocate and work for the passage of laws that will strengthen Connecticut's democracy
and empower its citizens.
John J. Woodcock III, a lawyer, is an
adjunct political science professor at Central Connecticut
State University
and former Democratic state representative.
******************
AP IMPACT: More than 3.5 million new voters, AP survey finds By MIKE BAKER, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 6, 5:08 AM ET
DURHAM, N.C. - Voter excitement, always up before a presidential
election, is pushing registration through the roof so far this year — with more
than 3.5 million people rushing to join in the historic balloting, according to
an Associated Press survey that offers the first national snapshot. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080506/ap_on_el_pr/voter_registration
******************
Investigators: Millions in Iraq contracts
never finished By HOPE YEN – Apr 28, 2008
WASHINGTON
(AP) — Millions of dollars of lucrative Iraq reconstruction contracts were
never finished because of excessive delays, poor performance or other factors,
including failed projects that are being falsely described by the U.S. government
as complete, federal investigators say.
The audit released Sunday by Stuart Bowen Jr., the special inspector
general for Iraq
reconstruction, provides the latest snapshot of an uneven reconstruction effort
that has cost U.S.
taxpayers more than $100 billion. It also comes as several lawmakers have said
they want the Iraqis to pick up more of the cost of reconstruction. The special IG's
review of 47,321 reconstruction projects worth billions of dollars found that
at least 855 contracts were terminated by U.S. officials before their
completion, primarily because of unforeseen factors such as violence and
excessive costs. About 112 of those agreements were ended specifically because
of the contractors' actual or anticipated poor performance. Continued….. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hsFVAXRsEDvNcvEywTTwl-pCcStQD90AOMQ00
******************
Domestic spying far outpaces terrorism
prosecutions, Los Angeles Times
By Richard B. Schmitt, Los
Angeles Times Staff Writer, May 12, 2008
WASHINGTON -- The number of Americans being secretly
wiretapped or having their financial and other records reviewed by the
government has continued to increase as officials aggressively use powers
approved after the Sept. 11 attacks. But the number of terrorism prosecutions
ending up in court -- one measure of the effectiveness of such sleuthing -- has
continued to decline, in some cases precipitously. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-justice12-2008may12,0,4309444.story
******************
Another
Laptop Stolen from Pfizer, Employee Information Compromised
| About 13,000 employees at Pfizer Inc., including about 5,000
from Connecticut, had their personal information compromised when a company
laptop and flash drive were stolen, ... - 5/12/2008 1:17:32
PM
******************
The Selling of the Judiciary: Campaign Cash
in the Courtroom
By DOROTHY SAMUELS
Published: April 15, 2008
“We put cash in the courtrooms, and it’s just wrong,” Sandra
Day O’Connor, the former Supreme Court justice, declared at the start of a
conference in New York last week on a growing threat to judicial independence
and integrity: the escalating millions that special interests are pouring into
state judicial elections in an effort to buy favorable rulings. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/opinion/15tues4.html?_r=3&ref=opinion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
******************
O’Connor & Breyer on Judicial Independence
By Maggie Barron – 04/09/08
http://www.brennancenter.org/blog/archives/oconnor_breyer_on_judicial_independence/
******************
WANT TO SEE WHO IS DONATING TO THE
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES?
USE THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE!
http://fundrace.huffingtonpost.com/neighbors.php?type=loc&newest=1&addr=&zip=06118&search=Search